Chapter 25

Phoenix

The only thing I see is red. McKenzie's red lips to be specific because everything else in my vision is blurry. I remove my hands from McKenzie's face so I don't hurt her by accident because of how angry I am. No, this isn't anger. This is rage. That motherfucker has been fighting at my club since McKenzie first went missing.

I stand and put my hands on top of my head as I pace.

He was fighting here almost every weekend while I was looking for her. He had drinks with me in celebration while he was raping my wife. MY WIFE!

I don't think as I walk to the door and yank it open. Jason jumps back in surprise as he calls my name. But I don't stop. I walk down the hall toward the noise of the crowd screaming. It's a celebration. Bill won again.

I'm going to yank him off that fucking stage and kill him. I'm going to beat his head to the ground until his brain is mush.

Someone jumps in front of me and I'm about to push them out of my way when I recognize it's Rex. He puts his hands on my shoulder. "Phoenix stop." His voice holds no room for argument, but I don't give a fuck. The fabric of my shirt rubs uncomfortably against my skin, so I unbutton it and rip it off, throwing it at him.

I'm about to get bloody, so I'll save myself from having to clean the blood out of that shirt. I step around Rex, but he gets in my face. I ball my hands into fists. "I'm about to knock you on your ass if you don't get out of my way."

"Phoenix!" It's McKenzie which makes me stop short. Turning to look over my shoulder, I see her running down the hall in those heels. Jesus, she's going to break her fucking neck. I turn around and face her as she launches herself at me, throwing her arms around my neck. I grab her and she lifts her legs to wrap them around my waist. I place a hand under her ass to support her so she doesn't fall.

She buries her head in my neck and kisses my bare shoulder. "I'm sorry." Her voice cracks. "I'm so sorry." I deflate a little, my tight muscles loosening some. Here she is saying sorry to me when she's the one who went through it.

"Love, don't you say sorry. This is not your fault." I'm such an asshole. I allowed my anger to take over instead of comforting her. She was having a fucking panic attack, and my first thought was to kill that son of a bitch. I rub my hand from her head and down her back, trying to comfort her.

Jason stops in front of me, his eyes flicking from me to Rex while deciding what to do. He handled the situation well. He didn't chase after Rex and me; instead, he stayed with McKenzie. I turn back to Rex, tightening my hold on McKenzie. "Get Bill and Dr. Chamberland. Tell them we're going to have a celebratory drink before they head upstairs. You know where to take them."

Rex nods once and motions for Jason to follow him. I turn and press McKenzie to the wall so I can lean back and look at her. She has slight black smudges under her eyes from crying. Her cheeks and neck are red. She's still a sight to behold, though. "You had a memory." She nods and opens her eyes slowly to look at me.

"As soon as I saw him." Her voice cracks and she shakes her head like she wishes she could unsee everything. "And when you were bringing me back to your office, I saw your mother."

"What?" I look down the hallway from where we came like she's going to be there.

"I should have said something, but I couldn't. It was hard to breathe." She sobs and puts her head in my neck again. "Why does she keep showing up? It's like she's intentionally torturing me."

"What do you mean she keeps showing up?"

McKenzie stiffens a little in my arms, but she leans back up to look at me. "I've seen her at auctions as well. The one you took me to before I got my memories back she was there. I didn't realize it was her until I got my memories back, but it was her. It's like she's always in the background waiting to pounce."

How have I not noticed her being around? Why hasn't my security noticed? What the fuck is going on?

People begin to pour out into the hallway, so I slowly release McKenzie. I keep my arm around her so she doesn't fall and so I can feel her. She's the only thing that will keep me from going crazy.

"Nix, your mother. She changed her hair color. It's red now."

I take in a deep breath. Of course she changed her appearance. I don't say anything, instead I interlace my fingers with McKenzie and begin walking to the room Rex will bring Dr. Chamberland and Bill to. It's in a hallway that's guarded. No one is allowed down here. It's been a rule since we started doing fights here, so no one even tries anymore.

It's dark, so it turns people away naturally. Walking down a long black hallway turns even the bravest person around. Especially when they don't know what could be lurking around the corner. I stop in front of a door and place my thumb on the keypad. Opening the door, I walk in and pull McKenzie in behind me. I wrap my arms around her and hold her close, taking advantage of the quiet moments before Rex shows with Bill and Dr. Chamberland.

She rubs her hands over my bare skin and kisses my left pec. "I hate what I remembered."

I lean back to look at her, gripping the back of her neck slightly. "I know, love. I'm so sorry that happened to you, but they will pay."

She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth, looking off to the side before she looks back at me. "You're going to kill them." It's not a question. She knows what's going to happen.

"I am. You can stay, go into the other room, or you can kill them and I'll watch." She pulls back slightly and mulls it over in her mind.

"I wish Anna was here." That's not what I was expecting her to say.

"Why?"

She lifts one shoulder. "Because I promised her we'd do it together." She sighs. "I don't know if William or Bill did anything to her, but Dr. Chamberland did. Well, he didn't stop it."

I kiss her forehead and pull away from her completely going to the cage that holds my weapons. "We found Dick the dean. Well, Rex found him. He's leaving tomorrow to go track him down, so we'll let her kill him."

She snorts and nods as she watches me. "Are you going to torture them first?" she asks as I put some tools on a silver tray.

"Yes." They will pay. She walks over and stands next to me, her hand shakes slightly as she rubs her finger along each tool. I rub my finger from her shoulder down to her elbow. "You don't have to stay in here while I do this, but those men are going to pay for what they did to you, Anna, and probably countless other women."

She puts her face in her hands. "I want to kill him. I do, but I don't know if I can." I grip her biceps and turn her to face me.

Leaning down, I look her in the eye. "There is nothing wrong with that, love. It doesn't make you weak."

She nods, but doesn't look convinced. "I want to stay until Rex brings them in. I want them to be forced to face me. To know they got caught." I pull her into my arms and kiss the top of her head.

"Whatever you want, love. It's yours."